Side Door

I used to love Side Door… Now with it’s new name, red room or whatever it sucks. The bartender was rude… My friend ordered a specialty cocktail at the whopping price of $ 13 and it was really small. I ordered a vodka and soda and it too was $ 13. We each handed him a $ 20 and got back $ 6. When I told him he owed us each a dollar he said «nope– there’s tax». So we paid $ 14 for a drink, and mine was just a regular cocktail yet the same price as a fancy muddled «hand crafted». I’m sorry but that’s ridiculous. Oh and the ladies room had no toilet paper, soap or towels… basically like a gas station bathroom… think they could provide such necessities since they are emptying our wallets, stay clear of this overpriced trendy place.

This review is for the Red Room, not Side Door.
Took some friends to the Red Room last weekend, expecting something at least similar to Side Door. Instead of the intimate, unassuming lounge that had become a local haunt over the years, we walked into a cold, pretentious space with harsh red lights and music that the hostess/​DJ described as, «I don’t know what it is, but we’re going for a House Lounge vibe.»
Cocktails were overpriced and we were told that we couldn’t order off-​menu. It’s not like we asked for Hurricanes; Manhattans and Negronis are three ingredients apiece. After one round and an offer for organic gluten-​free sushi, we decided to walk across the street to Ercoles to wash the taste out with some pitchers. We won’t be coming back.

Wow this place was amazing! It’s like an old English pub but chic and comfortable like a living room. Too bad I don’t live closer or I’d be there all the time!
You definitely have to try the pub chips with Gorgonzola sauce and bits of prosciutto. I had them with a flight of their brewed beers. Delish! The grilled peppers with manchego cheese were very interesting too. The lemon dessert was light, fluffy and memorable. Great place!

The side door is now called the RED ROOM after its renovation. Above was the 900 club which was for members only
I love the atmosphere of the newly renovated place
beautiful chandelier by the bar and the seats and walls looked way better when it was still SIDE DOOR.
cocktails were a bit pricey at $ 12 each but i loved the cocktail named JET SET it was smooth and tart. beer was ($ 7)
we had the bbq pork ribs ($ 15) and it was fall of the bone goodness that was full of flavor.
the calamari ($ 11) was not bad and the garlic fries ($ 7) was ok but the serving can feed an army.
over all its a good place to relax and unwind and have a few drinks. the service was great and i may add that they had great lounge music playing which was not too loud. it was just the volume to hear each others conversation.

Loved our meal here. Please read my review:

The Side Door is not what I expected in Corona del Mar! I was looking for a fun gastropub to go to in the area, and this was the only one with good reviews overall.
Walking into the tiny door, you enter a dark, English style, sexy lounge. There was a 10 minute wait to be seated. We initially were seated in a very tiny corner and sat on back-​less stools. I asked to be moved and they were very accomodating.
The food here was very good! We had the charcutterie, with a fun selection of cheeses, beer sausage, and procuitto. This place is related to Lawrys, so we decided to try their chili, which had big chunks of beef. In addition, we ordered the brussel sprouts. Very basic, roasted with parmasan cheese on top. The food was great, and it makes it so much better watching a chef in the middle of the restaurant slice breads and cheeses in front of you.
The setting is very romantic, and they have a wide selection of beer and wine. It’s not loud and crazy, I would say a perfect place for a date!
I absolutely loved it and will definitely visit The Side Door again!

I rarely ever feel bad leaving an establishment, especially if its just for drinks.
I don’t want to elaborate in grave detail because its boring and quite annoying so i’ll make it short and sweet.
A buddy and I went in for a drink around 9pm on wednesday evening. We both found it strange that the male bartender seemed quite buzzed, but we didn’t think anything of if. It was actually quite entertaining watching him. We sipped our drinks and chatted.
The night turned sour when we closed out and he informed us of this «service charge» on our drinks because they were on the «rocks». Mind you, only one of ours was.
As we politely asked for an explanation he became rude and over powering; not a good combination with the drunken slur.
I will not be back and am ashamed that this cool little spot allows such individuals to tend bar.

Oh gosh, a date took me here and we had no where to sit so we left and went bar hopping down the street. Not sure if I would go back since it is soo tiny.

Cute little lounge bar in the heart of Manhattan Beach. Great find and very different from the other rowdy bars full of drunk beach goers. Music had club style music on a Friday night. I think if they played more lounge music, it would compliment the intimate feel. Maybe on the weekdays it is different.
Drinks: not as stiff as I thought it would be based on other Unilocal reviews. Typically, I like my drinks on the rocks or neat but I decided to order a mixed vodka drink. I was served more of the mixer than the alcohol. I did like the added blueberries in my drink. The whiskey drink also had very little alcohol in it.
Food: okay for a lounge bar. Didn’t except it to be fine dining but definitely higher than the average food served at a sports bar. I ordered the halibut with vegetables and mac n cheese. Halibut and vegetables were okay. As for the mac n cheese, I did except it to have more flavor in it because of the types of cheeses in the ingredients. Dinner entrée was around $ 21 or so.
Service: very slow. On a Friday night, it appeared to us that only 1 server was present for the entire 1^st floor. She appeared to pay more attention to whoever was at the bar… maybe some regular than the tables inside. It took us a while to even get our food ordered.
Also, there is an upstairs that is closed to private members. Downstairs is open to everyone.
Would i go to the side door? Probably, but only for the drinks and on the rocks or neat. No mixed drinks. I also didn’t really care for the food as there are other restaurants on that street with better food.

I love this little bar and it is very little but there is an upstairs area which I did not get a chance to see. The service, drinks and music were a perfect start for our evening out with friends. I think though I should have stayed here the whole night. :)

My thoughts on this place left me slightly on the fence. However, my first impression of the actual interior was very good. It is, as everyone else has pointed out, a tiny, but unique place. I really like how the bar is sunken and wraps around. The place has a great lounge-​like feel to it, without being too «Hollywood» douchebag. It’s like a cool ski lodge meets a hotel lounge meets a nicely staged private house. The bartenders were friendly, the place was cozy, but my ONE complaint (wait for it)…THE MUSIC WAS AWFUL! It was over the top loud and what I usually hear coming out of a lot of lame Hollywood clubs. Drinks were a bit pricey, but thankfully I stick to beer.
I asked the door guy if it was always like that and he told me that it has a completely different vibe during the week. He said he preferred weeknights, because it’s much more mellow, both with the crowd and the music. He suggested trying it again on a weeknight, which 2 other people also confirmed.
I’ll be coming back during the week.

This place is so hilarious I’m still chuckling as I remember the details to write this review.
Came here with some buddies and the first thing I noticed was how small the room was. That can be cool. There’s a bar in the middle and all along the sides were booths and small tables. Those areas were dimly lit by candle light, which seemed to encourage intimate conversation. But here’s the best part, in the opposite corner was a DJ crammed into a small space, wearing apparel comparable to Ecko, and BLASTING dub steb/​house music. So much for intimate convo, LOL. Mind you, this space is no bigger than someone’s living room. The bartender was getting down also, and I think she was more drunk than the patrons. Too good.
So I put in a few orders for some Old Fashioneds with Johnnie Walker. Later I’m told, «We don’t have any Sweet Vermouth.» Uhhhhhhhhhh… I was so confused hahahahah. When was sweet vermouth ever used in an Old Fashioned? Did I go into some dubstep trance and mistakenly order a Manhattan? I had to compose myself for a bit and hold the laughter and said «wait, but you have sugar, cherries, oranges, bitters, ice and scotch or whisky?» and she said «yes.» I played it off and said «yea yea just make it like that.» Our drinks came back, everyone took one sip and laughed. No sugar or bitters were added. None of the fruit was muddled. It was pretty much johnny walker on the rocks with a cherry dropped inside (THAT’S FINE BY ME). It also came with a plastic stirring rod. Hahaha funniest Old Fashioned I’ve ever had.
So we sat there and drank our mystery drinks, while watching the DJ think he was performing his own dub step set at Coachella, as other patrons leaned over their small tables towards each other trying to hear one another’s words.
I love this place in a weird way.
All that ran through my mind as I exited the Side Door was Robert Downey Jr.‘s voice from Tropic Thunder, «Never go full retard.» This place went full retard.

I liked it,
Trendy small place with good music.
I would not spend the whole night there but the kind of bar I like to have a good cocktail before partying a little bit…

Side door is easily my favorite bar in the South Bay. The people that work there are the best, the location is perfect, and the music is something you can’t get anywhere else. Yes, the music kicks ass and really isn’t something you can get other places in the south bay. They have great DJs spinning awesome eclectic electronic and dance, and when there’s no DJ the bartenders will put on their stuff, also similar in style, depending on who’s working.
The food is really good here too. I love the meat balls and the mac & cheese – get it with blackened chicken on top.
If you want to douche out in the south bay, there are plenty of places around to do that. Side door isn’t one of them. The people that come here are generally pretty awesome and fun. It’s cozy with a great atmosphere. The people that work here are cool as hell. I especially like the bartender with the fauxhawk!
I’ve had some seriously fun nights here. I’d use the word «memorable» but that’s probably not exactly true after all those drinks!
P. S. Don’t get this place confused with the members-​only 900 club upstairs. It’s a completely different bar with different owners; they just share the same building.

Where should I begin… I found this place on Unilocal and decided to book my «coming back home to visit HH» here. I reserved a table for 10 ppl (which is the entire lower bar) and actually had 30 friends show up. Needless to say we damn near took over the entire spot and possible drove poor Caroline crazy. I still don’t understand why they only had one server. The place got REALLY crowded even without my friends. However Caroline ROCKED it. and I made sure her pockets felt the love.
I really didn’t eat (was sick from the day before) but my greedy friends ordered the whole damn kitchen — so I assume the food was great. They have a live band the first Friday of the month and we were a bit apprehensive at first. Thought it was some old folklore hill billy situation. However. they were a hit. The head singer was hysterical and even sung a song to me «Let’s get it on» lol what a cutie.
Warning: the place is SMALL… LIKE REAL SMALL. But if you can handle crowds and great drinks. oh yea the Martini’s were AWESOME. Ask for the Summer. somthing…they will know what you’re talking about.

So I am writing about this place because I swore to the bouncer that I would (as I furiously raised my fist in the air).
This place is gross because the women’s restroom was literally ankle high in water. Water from where? Ignorance is bliss and I rather not know but it was filthy. As a result, both men and women had to make a 10+ deep line to use the men’s restroom. I refused to share a bathroom with men peeing while standing so I went upstairs to use the other bathroom. Even then, the roided up bouncer refused to let my friends and I into the bathroom upstairs because there was a ‘private’ event going on. I don’t give an eff if the King and Queen of England are up there (that’s what I told the man, and he didn’t approve). Luckily, my friend lived walking distance from this hellhole so we resorted to leaving the place and headed back to his place. And lucky for Sidedoor, too, otherwise, they would have had a nice little surprise on their front step.
JK, but seriously, I won’t ever go back here.

itty bitty watering hole… nice location and quaint décor. Bartenders were on point taking my order. Although couldn’t get over the vibe, people… and the size. Seems like one of those spots you start your night off or meet friends at, but I definitely wouldn’t hang here all night or end my night here. The music was meh… house/​pop type beats downstairs and a country/​rock band upstairs. Overall I felt out of place… a semi-​young crowd downstairs that seemed to all know each other. An older crowd upstairs that also seemed to know each other. The one person that spoke to me made fun of my drink order… which definitely left a bad taste in my mouth for ever returning to this joint.

«Life is all about timing… The unreachable becomes reachable. The unavailable become available. The unattainable… attainable. Have the patience, wait it out. It’s all about timing.» — Stacey Charter
And timing, in my opinion, is what can make or break an experience at Side Door. Go there around 9pm and you might actually find a seat to enjoy the (amazing) live acoustic musical act stuffed in the corner and sip on a drink or two. Come late and well, everyone else’s reviews kind of say it all.
They lost a star simply because I asked for a White Russian and I was given a glass of Baileys with cream. While I do love Baileys on the rocks, that type of drinking is reserved strictly for when I’m spending a holiday with my boyfriend’s mother. A White Russian is a White Russian and you cannot alter it! The Dude would agree with me on this.
These really cute twins next to us were sipping on what they called a «Spanish Martini» which had some kind of liquor & champagne in it. They recommended it, so I’m definitely trying that next time (I know Emily R. is with me on this one)! I’ve also read they serve up an amazing dinner which is something else I definitely intend to try!
Overall, the place itself was small, cozy, quaint, ambient and a definite breath of fresh air away from the consistently noisy and rapidly growing ghetto crowd I’m starting to see in Hermosa Beach.
I’m definitely planning to visit Manhattan Beach more often as my source of all things nightlife and will make Side Door my first stop.

I love this lounge! Like others have said, it’s dinky though. Great cocktails and food. The bartenders and the rest of the staff are super nice and sociable. It’s a great place to have drinks after dinner — which is what we did after dining at Darren’s right down the street.
Just don’t get addicted to the Starbursts and Hershey cholocates they have at the bar!

Cozy? F*cking Crowded as Sh^t? Intimate?
You be the judge.
I love the idea of this place. But, it can get a bit crowded in a BIG way. This is the ideal spot to hit on an off night and the ideal spot to hit EARLY before you go to dinner. It’s not a flip-​flops sort of place.
Don’t half step. Go here to pick up chicks and you shall fail miserably.